Down the Rabbit Hole
by Miss Harley Quinzel
Summary: In this madhouse of a show, there are so many stories which they chose to ignore. So I have decided to tell you mine.
1. Prologue

Emma is the saviour.

Rumplestilstin's weakness is Belle.

Magic is back.

You should know all this, you've been watching haven't you?

I needent bore you though with recounting every detail which has happened. Once Upon A Time does paint the picture of what happened, but there are a few stories that they left out.

The stories that aren't important enough to be included, but I thought you may like to heard about mine.

No, I don't kill dragons or kiss princesses. I have scarcely met half of the victims of the curse since it was broken. My story didn't revolve around them. It didn't even take place in the same realm.

No, my story happened in Wonderland.


	2. Bad Luck

So before we get started I should tell you all a little bit about myself. Since the show has chosen to ignore my existence almost entirely. My name is Abby. And I am a compulsive liar.

Ok, ok, my name is not Abby. It is Alice. If you haven't guessed that already, I guess it's really my fault for being so cryptic. But I can't help it can I?

Oh dear, this is not getting off to a good start.

Let me start again.  
>Hi, my name is Alice. I live in Storybrooke, and I'm from wonderland.<p>

I'm assuming most of you are familiar with my tale. Of course the story isn't entirely accurate, but it is fairly close.

Yes, I found wonderland when I was a child, entirely on accident. It was one of those rare portals to the different realms, and mine happened to take me there. By the end of the tale though, I managed to get safely home. That is where my story ends.

I have heard of the variations of the stories, some of them attempting to be darker than the original tale, I can assure you all that that is not necessary.

I will not go into the details of my story in Wonderland, my journey there was hardly pleasant and I had no real wish to visit it again.

I have this unfortunate problem of being curious. So me, being curious, many years after my first visit to Wonderland, made the foolish attempt of trying to find wonderland again, 28 years ago.

I was unlucky that time, although I found the portal again, I didn't get back to Wonderland.

I don't know how, but I ended up in the Enchanted Forest. In all honestly, the Enchanted Forest is not the worst place I could have ended up in, but I couldn't have chosen a worse moment to try and get back to Wonderland. The curse, had already been unleashed at the time, so I was swept away with the other fairy tale creatures, though I had very little place with them, and joined them in Storybrooke.

Under the curse, I believed my name was Abby White. I lived on the corner of the town, near the edge of the forest. I don't think I ever felt completely right about living in town. I tended to avoid everyone and lived on the edge of town. I don't think I was ever comfortable talking to any of them. I guess they still seemed like strangers to me, despite being under the curse. I know I wasn't meant to end up in Storybrooke, the one time I saw the Mayor of the town, Regina, she seemed almost surprised to see me, she didn't seem to recognize me at all. My path never crossed hers in any of the stories. I'm surprised she never bothered to try and get rid of me, though I doubt she would have ever been able to find out any information about my relation to Wonderland. The most she could probably find out about, would be my old life.

After the curse broke, I remembered who I was, of course. I am technically meant to be 46. But with time being frozen for 28 years, I am still 18. It's a bit strange if you think about it, but after finding mushrooms that can change your size, it's not as unusual.

When the curse broke, and everyone was trying to find their families again, I couldn't do a thing. My family must have thought I had died, since I had been missing all those years. I could never go back to see them again. Despite this fact I decided to head into the town center to see everyone, I knew no one, not personally. I wasn't from their realm. It was rather lonely actually, to know that everyone in this realm would think me to be dead, and everyone else I know, be from Wonderland.  
>I even missed the Caterpillar.<p>

I remember watching as everyone barely gave me a second glance, eager to be reunited with their friends and families again. Except for that one man, he walked up to the notice board and plucked one of the notices, one which looked like it had nothing more than child's scribbles on it. He had quickly pocketed the notice before starting to leave. I only caught a glimpse of his face at the time, but I was sure of whom it was almost immediately. It was the Mad Hatter.


	3. Curiosity killed the cat

Oh please as if I chased after him.

That's what you probably thought I should have done no doubt.

It probably would have been the smart idea at the time, after all he was the only man I knew in this town.

It was a little strange to see him again, to be honest. You have to keep in mind that I had only seen him once and I was about...seven, at the time.

At the time, chasing after a man I barely knew and who was also rather rude to me at the time of our meeting, seemed out of the question. Even if I had decided to pursue him, he wouldn't have recognized me. I was in Wonderland for such a brief time after all.

I just realized that I refer to Wonderland being my home despite the fact that I have lived most of my life in this realm. I guess I started considering it that after waking up from the curse, it felt weird to belong to a world I had been trapped in under a false name.

Anyways, back to the point.

I would like to inform you that even though I did not pursue after the Mad Hatter, I may have followed him.

Yes that was not the brightest idea, in fact, I should have just ignored him entirely and just played it off as a figment of my imagination. Though that idea had a flaw in itself as he did not look quite like the man I met in Wonderland.

I sound a little like a stalker at this point I guess that is rather regretful, though I can not regret following him entirely though. If I hadn't followed him. It is rather doubtful that I would have ever seen him again.

I followed him for ages it seemed, I was worried a few times that he new I was there, and that is why he was taking an incredibly long time to get to, what I hoped would be his home. The building which I came across was rather startling.

I waited for him to go inside before walking out of the shadows and heading to the gate, I started up at the huge house, before briefly glancing at his house number. Although his house was huge, it seemed dark, like it had captured some of his personality, it was rather gloomy and reminded me or a haunted house, or soon to be haunted. His house seemed more separated from the town even though it wasn't so far off from everything. With my almost hermit like behavior while under the curse, I wasn't surprised that I had never seen the place before. At the time, it hadn't even occurred to me that I might end up experiencing some difficulty trying to find my way back.

The sky had been darkening for quite a while now, it shouldn't have surprised me as much as it did, but I had been far too focused on following him and not being seen, to keep an eye on the time.

With my chances of getting back home becoming limited, my curiosity got the better of me and I decided to check out the house. I walked up to the door before turning and looking through the windows of the bottom floor. The house on the inside seemed rather pleasant and normal, not what I had been expecting, saw a room with a tea set.

I don't know why, but I have always been fascinated by tea sets, whether they be plain or beautiful antiques.

The set I saw was rather plain, but I couldn't resist the temptation of seeing if I could go inside and see it up close.

Since I had not seen the Mad Hatter in all the rooms I looked in, I decided that I would just see if the door was unlocked. To my relief (although it was short lived) the door was unlocked. Before I knew what had happened I had practically invited myself into his home. Once I was inside I debated with myself on whether it was worth it now to go ahead with my plan, but since I was already there, I reasoned the idea with myself saying that I wouldn't want to disturb him for something as trivial as seeing a tea set.

I crept though his house silently, being careful not to make a sound as I briefly glanced into each room, sincerely hoping that I hadn't missed seeing the Mad Hatter and him being in one of the rooms.  
>I found the room with the tea set rather easily, I only let myself give a small sigh of relief before walking over to the table it was on and picking up the empty tea cup. They were plain white, though bigger than the usual cup, definitely not designed to look like normal mugs though. I smiled slightly, in it's own simple was, it was nicer than some of the intricate tea sets I had seen before. I had placed the cup down carefully before going to look at the next item, when my breathe caught in my throat. I hadn't seen a tea pot. The entire set was here, except for the tea pot. I could have sworn I saw it earlier that the tea pot was there, but not it wasn't. It hadn't occurred to me that this tea set was out because he was brewing tea. Who brews tea anyway with a tea set but doesn't bring the rest of the set with them. I turned quickly intending to leave now and hopefully never return but I froze when I saw who had been standing in the door.<p>

It was the Mad Hatter, holding a pot of tea, and a gun pointing directly at me.

"Hello Miss, would you care for some tea?"


	4. Tea Parties with the Enemy

**This chapter will be written in present tense and as a flashback**

* * *

><p>"No, thank you Mr Hatter," I whispered timidly and took a tiny step back.<p>

"Oh are you sure? You can't have followed me all the way here just in the hopes of looking at a tea set could you?" He stated, not quite sneering.

"After all you must be tired, it's the least I can do to offer you some tea," his lip curled slightly, "it would be rather rude of me if I didn't offer. Though with your impromptu visit, and with me going to all the trouble of making some, it would be rude of you to refuse."

I could have sworn I was shaking, I don't think now would be the time to try and explain who I was, it was painfully clear he didn't recognize me.

I took another step back and felt my body press lightly against the table. He hadn't made a move towards me yet, though it was very clear he wasn't going to let me leave just yet.

"Tea would be lovely," as soon as I said that he broke into a grin, though not the kind that would generally reassure you.

"Well take a seat," he motioned to the couch.

I walked across the room, my flats tapping lightly against the floor before sitting down on the, rather comfy, couch.

The Mad Hatter brought the tea set over, with the tea pot on the tray and set it down on the coffee table, along side the gun. He poured the tea with careful precision.

"Sugar? Milk?"

"Just one sugar," I murmured.

He passed me my tea cup.

I carefully took a sip of the scalding tea.

"You seem to have a pretty good idea of who I am. Have we perhaps met before?"

I glanced up at him for a moment, "Perhaps. You probably wouldn't remember me."

"My dear I think I would remember you. What is your name?"

"Ella," I lied instinctively, without even thinking about it.

"Ella," He repeated before picking up a lock of my blonde hair, "Hmm, no, you don't really look like an Ella. Is that your cursed name?"

"I'm Cinderella," I lied again. That was a bad idea, what if he knew the real Cinderella. But maybe my light blue shirt would help with the idea that I'm her if he didn't know her.

"So your Miss Cinderella? I've heard your story princess, though I don't quite remember it saying that you broke into houses."

"I'm sorry about that, I didn't mean too, the door was unlocked and I just wanted to see the tea set," I started to babble.

"You're rather self centered aren't you," He stated with a frown, "Well Miss Ella, you may call me Jefferson. Also, I don't believe we've met before, yet you've already assumed I'm the Hatter."

I stared into my tea cup, "...lucky guess?" I suggested weakly.

"Regina sent you didn't she," his cheerful attitude disappeared. Not that it had been that cheerful to begin with.

"What? No! I've scarcely spoken to her."

"Liar!" He near shouted, "you liar! Don't lie to me! You work for Regina!" He reached for his gun.

By this time I panicked, having no doubt that he would shoot me, or threaten to until I told him the 'truth'.

I jumped up and threw the remaining contents of my tea at him, he gave a mild shout of pain, the tea hadn't cooled much over the time we were conversing.

I bolted out of the room and shut the door behind me, I only glanced back briefly and regretted it instantly, he looked angry. I rushed to the front door and down the steps, running as fast as I could out of his house my shoes clacking noisily across the ground before I took a turn and started to run into the forest. Paying little attention to where I was going.

I had no intentions of visiting him again any time soon.


	5. Double Shot of Blonde

I dared not stop running. I was terrified for my life. It was true my trip to Wonderland was no picnic, but I thought that the Hatter would be glad to see someone he knew.

The Hatter or Jefferson, as I should start to call him looked, well. In comparison to the last time I saw him.

Back in Wonderland, he looked dead. Like life had no purpose. I only ran into him once, in the Queen of Heart's castle. He was making hats, surrounded by them two.

At the time I didn't question it. I was running from my life from the Queen, it didn't occur to me after I escaped Wonderland that there was a reason why he was called mad.

I slowed to a halt at the edge of the town. I had been lost in the forest for hours. I was a mess and had lost my shoes had slipped off my feet as I ran in a panicked daze. There was mud on my dress and scrapes all over my skin, centring on my hands.

I think I needed help. I desperately needed to find out what was wrong with him. So I did the only think I thought I could do.  
>I went to the Sheriff.<p>

Finding the Sheriff was harder than it looked. I knew almost no one, I could almost feel the stares on me when I walked past. I was a stranger to them all. I couldn't ask.  
>The Sheriff's station was empty.<p>

I was at a loss. I was in pain, my feet were in poor shape after being abused on the concrete and forest floor, and I hadn't slept in hours. I was beginning to stumble across the pavement until my legs gave way. The last thing I saw was a white building and a blonde man in a white coat.

* * *

><p>"Dehydration, and exhaustion," were the first two words spoken to me when I came to. They were spoken by a blonde man, from earlier.<p>

"My name is Doctor Whale; you collapsed on the pavement just outside the scratches on your skin are shallow, and though they are numerous they aren't infected so you should be fine as long as you keep them clean." He took a moment to pause to look properly at me, "I'm afraid we don't have your name?"

"I'm…I'm Alice."

He wrote down my name on the clipboard without a second thought and looked like he was about to leave.

"Please, Doctor Whale, I need to speak to the Sheriff. Where can I find her?"

He paused and turned to look back at me. "Well since we will be keeping you here overnight, she will have to come here."

I was already starting to stand before he finished his sentence.

"I'm really quite alright," I said as confidently as possible, before the wooziness hit me and the floor seemed so much closer.

I opened my eyes to see myself staring at an empty room with a blonde woman with a Sheriff's badge.

"Sheriff," I managed with a croaky voice. I was about to reach for a glass of water when I saw there was a drip in my arm.

"What's this about?" She asked all business.

"What's wrong with Jefferson?"

She paused, appearing startled, "Did Jefferson do this?"

"No, not directly, my curiosity and fear did this."

"Then why do you want to know about Jefferson?"

"I…I can't say."

"Why not? You tell me why you want to know and I'll tell you what I know of it."

"You wouldn't believe me."

"My parents are Snow White and Prince Charming. There isn't much I won't believe at this point."

"My," I swallowed a mouthful of saliva, "my name is Alice, I'm from Wonderland and he's the only thing I have left."


	6. The Whale and the Swan

It took her a while to get her head around the news I just told her. Then came the disbelief.

"He never mentioned you before. I'm fact I knew nothing of a girl aside from his daughter."

"He has a daughter?" This was news to me. But maybe that was why he helped me. I was still a little girl at our first meeting. Maybe he missed her. I had seen no daughter when I was there, but then again, I had never met anyone my age when I visited Wonderland.

I swallowed hard, trying my best to hide my shock.

"I'm not surprised he didn't. I only met him once. I just. Is it silly that I hoped he'd remember me, despite all these years? Yet, when I was there, he was so. Lost and angry. So entirely-"

"Mad." She finished off the sentence. "No. It's not silly, but if he is the reason for any of your injuries I'm going to have to bring him in."

"Oh no. Please don't. It was my fault, I just, wanted to make sure you would warn people away from his house. He's, rather volatile."

She nodded, "my name is Emma by the way. Emma Swan.

"Alice Liddell."

Emma nodded her head slightly before she left the room.

* * *

><p>It was cold and lonely in the Hospital and night. I had not been social among these people, but being in a room with minimal objects and none of the possessions being my own, it could not help but feel the sharp pain of loneliness. It wasn't often when I allowed myself to dwell on the past, but I was not like these people here, they were only markings on a piece of paper in this world, whilst I was alive here. Yet now I belong with them, and yet I still am different as even my fake world of Wonderland was not theirs. The only one I ever shared that world with was the Hatter, and he had no kind feelings for me.<p>

While I was wallowing in my pit of despair, I had another visitor.

"Is there something wrong Doctor Whale?" I asked.

He shook his head slightly, "What is your name?"

"I told you already. It's Alice."

"That must be your cursed name though, there is no record of an Alice in any story here," he was clearly repressing irritation, but I had no answer to give him.

The colour drained from my face. Was my secret that easy to discover?

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

Doctor Whale's face seemed to lose it for a second, I could not tell if it was anger or despair at my response.

"Do you swear that you are not lying to me?"

I nodded my head.

He let out a breath that seemed to deflate him, like he had temporarily lost some purpose.

"Tell me if you meet a woman named Elizabeth," he turned away before I could give him an answer.

He paused at the doorway, "also you can be discharged tomorrow morning. Just take care of yourself, I don't want to see you back here."

I decided to take that last sentence as more of a 'get well' gesture, rather than a threat. But still I felt uneasy as I snugged back down under the covers.


End file.
